Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1887-01-06
SIN AND DEATH.
DR.. cURTIss' NOTES ON THE suIi-
DAY SCHOOL LESSON.

Lesson II for Sunday, Jan. 9-Lesson
Text, Ge .. iii, I-6 and 17-Ie-GOI len
Text, Rom. v, IL: s'By One Man Sin
Entered into the World, and Death by
SIM"
Paradise Lost.-It is one of the most uni
versal traditions Of the human race that
man originally enjoyed a state Of innocence
and happiness, which he has somehow lost;
and among some of the nations tAryanl
is also found the belief that the world is
growing worse 1t would seem as though
the eyes of all peoples were turned long1ngly
back to Paradise as something which they
would gladly regain The Scriptures, how
ever. are free from those grotesque repre-
sentations which we find of the fall in the
Persian and other hteratures.
Chaos and Satan-Some commentators,
relying on obscure hints in the Bible, have
seen in Gen. l. 2, the wreck Of spiritual
world. once the abode Of Satan and Of the
angels who kept not their own principality
Jude V, 6, Revised Version). This world,
they maintain, was materialized by God in
order to make it the substratun Of new
creation, described in Gen. i, 3-27. But Of
this there is no adequate evidence. Satan Is
indeed called in the New Testament the god
of this age, end the prince Of the power Of
the air. There is, however, no proof thai
he had any connection with this earth be
fore the time indicated in our lesson, since
we have no right to say that God did not
create chaos, and therefore that it must
be the work Of Satan.
The Crisis in Human History.-The third
chapter of Genesis marks g crisis In human
history. Whatever explanation may be
given of this narrative, that history from
this time on takes a different turn, and
Gods verdict regarding man is of an en-
tirelv different sort from that which we
fRd in Gen i, 81. The serpent IN the pas
sage before us, as well as in ancient Persian
and other traditions, introduces this crisis
THE LESSON.
The Image of Satan ". i've have
seen in the last lesson that there is glori-
fed human form, which was fitted to be the
outward expression of the image of God,
in which man was created, and which was
the mode in which the Angel of Jehovah
appeared, and also our Lord himself. The
proper imsge for the arch enemy of God
and man is the most cunning of the reptiles,
the serpent Satan is not mentioned in this
passage, but his work is described IN such
a way that we should recognize him even If
he were not pointed out in later writings
There are only two cases in which ami
mails are mentioned as speaking-here where
the serpent speaks by his own power, and
in the story of Balaam, where God gives an
ass the power of speech that he may rebuke
a self-willed and covetOus prophet.
The Woman TenIpted.-He approaches
the woman, as more guileless and confiding,
if anything, than the man, and by an in
genious question casts an imputation on
Gods goodness-''Yea, hath God said, Ye
shall not eat of every tree of the garden?''
In other words, Is it possible that God has
said, Ye shall not eat of any tree Of the gar
den? He secures Just the answer which be
desires. The woman says that they are
permitted TO eat of every tree Of the garden
but one, and concerning that one God
has said eye shall not eat Of it, neither
shall ye touch it, lest ye die" The exact
time is not specified in Gen ii, II, when they
should die, for the word day is used in the
same general signifcatson as in V. Of the
sams chapter. Death is simply regarded as
a result Of eating the forbidden fruit, just
as the death penalty in some states is the
result of the crime of murder, although
there are cases where long time intervenes
between the sentence and the execution.
Satan's Lie Tvs. 4, 5).-The serpent.
having secured the statement that he desires
by consunmate artiiee, boldly denies the
truth Of Gods word-''Ye shall not surely
die:', that is, he makes God a liar, and ac-
cuses him Of jealously Withholding from
them the same kind of knowledge that he
has, forbidding them to eat Of the tree;
since he adds, ''for God doth know that in
~ l,ol1
be opened, and We shall be as gods Re
vised Version, which is to be preferred ''as
God'0, knowing GOD and evil" This
statement of the serpent was indeed half
true. but it was also hall false. Death did not
come at once, and their eyes were opened
Their knowledge, however, brought them
only shame and disappointment, as all hui
man knowledge does which seeks to solve the
problems of existence without a divine
revelation. Such knowledge leads to de-
spair Man finds that he is utterly ignorant
of those things which he desires to know.
Hence in religion he becomes an eglostic
and in philosophy peSSimist. Men with
out God are like the babes in the wood,
who know that they have lost the way home,
and are hungry, tired and full of fears.
Such is man when he lets go the divine hand
and seeks to determine for himself the laws
of his own being and destiny
DisbelievirS God ". 6.-The woman in
believing the serpent disbeleved God. She
seems no longer to have had fear Of death,
and therefore did not fear to disobey Gods
command. The temptation addressed it
self to her senses and her intellect. She saw
Q) that the tree was good for food; GJ
that Il was g delight to the ewes Revised
4h,% al hr II --raf1t t,
make ono wise. Her sin. which had its
genesis in unbelief, was twofold-O she
herself 6isobeyed; (9 she tempted her hus-
band to disobey. This illustrates the self
propaSating character of sin. It does not
stop with the transgressor. It seeks to make
others transgreSSors. Israel is first "a seed
of evil doers,' - then corruptcrs of others.
Mans Punishms snt Tvs. 13-1g.-The sorest
part Of mans punishment was self-infhcted-
The question Is sometimes asked why God
should have visited such terrible punish
ment on man for simply taking the fruit Of
the forbidden tree, as to curse the earth end
drive him from the garden. This arises
from o radically wrong conception of the
nature and consequences Of sin. Man cs
free moral agent mus choose for himself.
He had the power to choose to obey God II
he had always chosen to obey him, there
would have bsen harmony; but it was no
ordinary sin when the woman, by disbehey-
ing God, made him liar Il John Y. 10,
and not only did counter to his viii, but also
became child of the devil by to npting her
husband to sin. The moment man and
woman disobcyed God they came into a
state in which Eden could no longer be
Paradise to them. They experienced the
truth of Milton's lines
The mind lis own place, and in Itself
Can make q heaven he'll, he'll Of heaven.
From this point of view their sin was as
great as though all the trees of the garden
had been forbidden them, as the serpent sug-
gested. and as though, if there had been
such prohibition, they had eaten from all
of them. No sin is little. The first con-.
scious, deliberate tranSgression, unless re-
pented of, is the beginning Of a series Of
acts which drag men down. The verses
however, indicate an outward condition
of things fitted to mans inward state
There is an outward penalty which is saper-
added. The punishment the1 5 physical Is
well as mental 1t consists Of The following
particulars: Q) Man is haniShed nom Eden;
C9 the ground is cursed Tor his sake; %